Plasma Cannon
by RaeEcho
Summary: The scarab connected to Jaime's spinal cord wasn't as harmless as they thought. It was a sentient being. Jaime could have been sharing his head with another person for months if not years. Now a two-shot.
1. Plasma Cannon

A/N- Let's get something straight. I love the Blue Beetle. Almost as much as Robin/Nightwing, its a close race. So, I'm back with a one-shot. My thought was: Why doesn't anyone seem to care that Jaime appears to be insane? Add a bit of idea gnome and watching the new episode earlier. Bam! You've got a story. Enjoy!

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"This is hand to hand combat only. That means no powers, no weapons, nothing. Does everyone understand?" Nightwing asked, his eyes roaming over the teenagers in front of him. The crop of new heroes nodded at him. Every single one of them fitted in different types of workout gear. The most recurring, however, were shorts and t-shirts. He wasn't going to take the chance of anyone sneaking something in to help themselves out. If they wanted to save face they could have picked a different extra curricular activity. Like basket weaving.

They all knew that this type of training would come up eventually.

This was the former Boy Wonder's favorite day of training after all, and there was no way that he would let them miss it. It was the day of training where he got to teach meta humans, aliens, and teens of entirely different species his kind of combat. The kind of combat that didn't rely on powers, but on pure skill. It wasn't just a fighting technique, it was an art form. All were pretty well versed, but that didn't mean that they didn't need all the practice they could get. His only task was to choose who went first. After that he could sit back and watch the show.

"Robin, Batgirl, you're up." He barked, and he briefly looked over at his little brother's grinning face. He knew if not for the sunglasses shielding his eyes and identity to the team he was sure he would be getting the 'Timmy look' as he called it. If that kid wasn't so nice he would be a serious heart breaker at Gotham Academy. The was the look the made Batman take him under his wing as the next Robin.

Barbara, on the other hand, he could tell that she was glaring at him from behind her shades. Her assumptions were probably along the lines of him not wanting her to have the challenge she dearly craved. she was correct to some degree, but just because it wasn't beneficial to her didn't mean the same for Tim.

So, that's where he found himself, waiting patiently as the two took their positions on the floor. Deciding not give either of them a chance to prepare, he started the match."Go!"

With one word the two were off. Batgirl making her first move by attempting to sweep Tim of his feet with a kick, only to be countered by Tim flipping over her. Dick had to smile, he taught Robin that not three weeks ago. The battle was going just how he pictured it. Barbara sticking with the classics and Tim trying not to get killed by the girl he considered an older sister.

It was interesting to say the least.

The fight progressed on, but Dick didn't really pay all that close attention to it. He had seen them spar more than enough times at the cave. Nightwing found himself not watching the fight, but the group behind it. They held his attention better than the well rehearsed moves of the bat family.

Bumble Bee, Wonder Girl, and Mal were talking among themselves, pointing out different moves being used, and he watched them a bit in fascination. Every so often Bee would sneak a glance at Mal, and he would return it. Their relationship was hardly a secret, but it was still hilarious to watch them skirt around each other. The best part though was the fact the Wonder Girl didn't notice a thing. He would have to remember to up the team's observation training.

The next two going down the row did not make him as thrilled. Beast Boy, who didn't have his sister around to hold his personality back, kept changing parts of his appearance into different animals. A monkey with an elephant's trunk, a furry lizard, all in the attempt to get Lagoon Boy to laugh. gar succeeded, becuse every time Dick looked at Gar's supposed role model he was trying to stifle his laughter with his hand. Typical behavior from the two of them. That only left one more on his mental check list, Blue Beetle.

Jaime wasn't standing with anyone. He was off by himself a little farther down the line, not looking at the fight, not engaging anyone, but instead, keeping his gaze planted firmly on the floor. His facial expression conveyed that he was uncomfortable and irritated. His arms were crossed loosely over his bulky t-shirt and Dick could distinctively see the boy's lips moving. He was talking to himself, again. Normally, he would just leave Jaime to his ramblings and continue training as normal, but there was something about the way his shoulders were set. Tapping into his extensive training, he started to read the sixteen year old's lips.

"Will you stop. I know. I know!" He mumbled in anger. "Shut up! I can take care of myself."

At this point Dick was completely lost. It seemed as if Jaime was carrying on a conversation with himself, not just talking. That meant there had to be an other side of the conversation. That was the real mystery. Was Jaime actually crazy or was he talking to someone? He had never really asked that question. He wrote him off as strange, but now he wasn't so sure.

Making sure to stay outside of the sparring circle, he made his way over to the boy. With each step he took, Jaime's voice got louder. He would occasionally mumble something like, 'shut up' or 'I know.' He was starting to believe that he needed to send him to Black Canary for a mental assessment.

"Blue, who are you talking to?" He asked when he was sure that he was close enough for Blue to understand him.

Jaime all but jump out of his skin. He had not expect to be confront for his usual odd behavior, that much was certain. His eyes shot up to Nightwing's masked face. "I... uh... No one." He was trying and failing to come up with an excuse. The kid in front of him was such an awful liar it wasn't even funny.

"Are you okay?" He asked, but Blue still looked at him with a mixture of confusion and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He mumbled and he dropped his eyes back to the floor. Dick could see straight through him. He was way not okay.

"The little voices giving you trouble?" The joke came out of his mouth before he could stop it, and he could see panic overcome the younger teen in front of him. What was he hiding that scared him so bad? Did he think that they would lock him up for insanity?

_"Robin, status: fail."_ The female voice of the computer called out, throwing a complete wrench in his plans to understand one of the members on his team. How could he forget, he still had a lesson to teach.

"Nice try Rob, but you still can't beat me." Barbara smirked, and she held out her hand to help him up. Nightwing decided that it would best to revive his role as instructor and he walk over to them, listening to their usual banter as he went. Out of the corner of his eye he still watch the Blue Beetle, he did not miss the sigh of relief the boy huffed out after his departure.

"I wouldn't be so smug, BG." Dick said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "You still can't beat me." He smirked, effectively ending their sibling rivalry along with making Tim snicker. The two of them made their way back to the others, and as he watched their retreating forms a new idea came to mind.

"L'gann, Blue, you two are up."

"Sweet!" L'gann cheered and he made his way into the sparing circle. It was times like these that Dick couldn't help compare the similarities between him and the former Kid Flash. He was up and ready to fight. The only difference being that L'gann wasn't about to get served during training, because there wasn't a doubt in his mind that Blue could not take him in a fair fight. the Blue Beetle wasn't weak by a long shot, but he was far from the strongest member on the team. He was scrawny, strange, and hopefully he could prove himself to be a worthy opponent in hand to hand. That was, of course, if Blue actually got in the ring.

"Blue whats the hold up?"

"I just... Well... I-"

"Today, Jaime." He said using his actual name. He found out earlier that he responded to it better than the Blue Beetle or just plain Blue.

"Yes sir." Jaime said sarcastically, and he shuffled into the ring where Lagoon Boy was waiting.

"Go!" He yelled, starting their match, and as soon as he did it, he wished he hadn't. The first thing L'gann did was use his powers. Electricity charged through him and was heading straight for Jaime. Dick knew that it would never injure its target too bad. L'gann was just trying to scare the younger boy out of his mind. He didn't give near enough juice for any damage to be dealt, Blue could move out of the way in time anyway. That still didn't mean that there wan't going to be hell to pay later for his actions.

But Jaime didn't dodge. Shock ran through him as he watched the events unfold, and he didn't need to look at the others to realize that they were in the same state as he was. He shouldn't have paired them together. Even if the shock wouldn't leave permanent damage it would still hurt. Why didn't he move when he had the chance?

All he could do was watch in horror as Jaime dropped to his knees, clutching his arm. The action confused him, because he saw the shock go straight into the boy's chest, not his arm.

The arm in question did look fried, but on the contrary. It appeared to be shifting into the familiar blue armor of the Blue Beetle. More that that, it was shifting into a weapon. An extremely deadly weapon. A plasma cannon if he wasn't mistaken, and he rarely was.

"I said no!" Jaime screamed at his inner demon. "He wasn't going to hurt us!" Dick briefly took notice at the use of 'us' in his sentence. "He didn't mean it! I won't attack him! Stop it!"

"Jaime?" Cassie stepped forwards towards her downed teammate. Dick had half a mind to pull her away, but her voice seemed to cut through the haze that was Jaime's mind, and he could visibly see some of the tensing in his shoulders relax. Not by much, but a little was better than nothing.

"No. Shut up! You aren't the boss of me! Leave me alone!" He yelled even louder, and his hand shifted back to its normal tanned state, only for him to grab at his hair with it. His hands gripped the side of his head like it was splitting open. If he started rocking back and forth, Nightwing was going to interrupt the Justice League's meeting over recruitment on the grounds of the Blue Beetle having a mental breakdown. He had to inform someone, it wasn't like Jaime had a mentor other than himself, and he was not ready to handle this on his own. He was only eighteen.

"Jaime, who are you talking to?" Cassie crouched next to Blue, apparently taking over Nightwing's job completely. Not that he could really argue. Wonder Girl was better with Jaime more than the other members of the team could ever hope to be. They were an odd pair, but he couldn't say anything against it considering a few of his previous girlfriends over the years.

"Jaime, talk to me." She ordered, taking Jaime into her arms. He leaned against her, and Dick knew that it didn't have anything to do with hormones. He look exhausted. Now that he thought about it, Jaime had been looking off for a while. It must have been something personal, but whatever it was effected his armor and his mental state.

"He won't leave me alone."

"Who won't?"

"The scarab. It's been three days. He wants more control." Jaime mumbled and by this point he was distributing his weight between Cassie and the floor.

"What scarab?" Cassie's voice cracked. She didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but she was also relativity new to the team. Dick knew entirely to well what he was referring to.

The scarab connected to Jaime's spinal cord wasn't as harmless as they thought. It was a sentient being. Jaime could have been sharing his head with another person for months if not years.

"Jaime, how long has this been going on?" He asked, speaking for the first time since Blue hit the floor.

"Since I became the Blue Beetle."

Silence filled the room. No one could wrap their heads around it. How could they not have known that the beetle that had saved their lived so many times was also costing one of their friends his sanity? Out of the entire sum of heroes that had come into contact with the Blue Beetle, not one person had bothered to figure out why he talked to himself. Dick now completely understood why. He was trying to keep their thoughts separate. He wanted to conformation that he was still his own person, not a puppet to his armor.

Dick had never been so wrong in his life. Jaime wasn't the scrawny, weak, weird member of the team. He was the strongest of them all, and he was going to find a way to help him. They were going to beat the beetle, one way or another.

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A/N- It was lame, I know. I just wanted to write something for the Blue Beetle.

So everybody. Feed the gnome, write a review.

**6/3/12 - Edit -** I fixed some things... Misspelled names and etc. Thanks to Mirror's Mirage who pointed out the mistakes. They also said that they didn't think that L'gann had the electrical shock thing. I don't actually know if he does or not, I was making an assumption based on him being a student at Atlantis' Conservatory of Sorcery like Aqualad was. (Just to clarify, Tim is the one who got owned by Batgirl.)

Thanks for the reviews.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- Because you people love to tell me over and over again that there needs to be another chapter... fine... Here you go... I don't promise you awesome quality or it being continued past this point, but since you wanted it, I'll write it. (I may or may not have given the closure you wanted, but you have to remember... I'm evil.)

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Three days. That's how long Jaime had been listening to the nonstop talking of his artificial companion. It never gave him a moment to himself, always correcting him, always finding a new way to make his life a living hell.

_"I do not make your life hell. I merely tell you how to make it better." _Khaji said, butting into his inner most thoughts yet again. Jaime didn't bother with a response. It didn't matter if he answered or ignored the AI, it would still keep talking. All he could do was fume silently and call the machine fused with his spinal cord every foul name he could think of.

_"You should show me respect, if not for me there would be no Blue Beetle."_

"Will you stop? I know. I know." Jaime mumbled.

_"I will stop when you stop being incompetent."_

"Shut up! I can take care of myself." He almost screamed. He was at his wit's end. He couldn't focus in school, because Khaji would tell him all the answers before he could think, he couldn't hold a steady girlfriend due to the fact that they all thought he was insane, and he couldn't pay attention during training. One minute Nightwing had been explaining that they couldn't use their powers and the next he looked up to see that the first match was already in full swing. Or maybe it was the second match? He couldn't tell what he had missed while he conversed with his parasite.

The parasite in question didn't even seem to take any offense to Jaime belittling it, _"You need to be more observant."_ Knaji said in its familiar condescending tone. How a machine could have such an attitude was beyond him, but it still made Jaime want to scream. He swore that if one more word came out of that damn-

_"Think before you speak."_

"Shut up!"

"Blue, who are you talking to?" A voice said next Jaime, causing him to almost have a heart attack. Of course Nightwing would pick that exact moment to ninja beside him.

"Observant..." Khaji chimed in and Jaime did the best he could to shove the voice to the back of his mind. He hadn't answered Nightwing's question, and if kept hesitating the team's leader would become even more suspicious. He did not need that.

"I... uh... No one." He stumbled over his words, trying to force the lie out of his mouth. He knew he was a terrible liar, but he should have been disgraced about how bad that one was. Not to mention that he also said it to the former partner of the Dark Knight.

"Are you okay?" Nightwing asked. His concern was a little unexpected, but Jaime knew that someone was bound to ask him about why he was talking to himself sooner rather than later. He knew he should trust his team, but he didn't want them to think he was insane. Fear gripped him, he had seen the asylums where crazy people ended up. He didn't want to lie to the former Boy Wonder, but there was no way in hell that he would be sent to the nut house.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He mumbled and he dropped his gaze to the floor. He felt as though, if he couldn't see Nightwing, then Nightwing couldn't see through him.

"The little voices giving you trouble?" The older teen joked. Jaime paled instantly. His thoughts were chaotic. 'Did he know? How could he know? What's he going to do about it? What's-'

_"Quit panicking." _Khaji instructed, and for once, Jaime tried to listen.

"Robin, status: fail." The computer interrupted, and Jaime tried his best not to let his sigh of relief be too noticeable. Nightwing was leaving him alone to finishing instructing the lesson, and never before had he been so thankful that Robin couldn't win against Batgirl.

_"This is the exact reason a contingency plan needs to be in place."_ His inner demon began lecturing. He tuned it out, just like he was doing to the rest of the world. He was lost in his thoughts. He needed to find a better way to communicate with Khaji. Suspicion was starting to be directed at him in waves.

"Blue, what's the hold up?" Nightwing snapped, pulling him out of his musings in the blink of an eye. Once again he was lost. To make up for lost time, he started to quickly puzzle out his surroundings. He noticed L'gann was in the ring waiting to spar. He didn't have an opponent, and no one was moving to fill that hole. So, that meant it was him. Fantastic.

"I just... Well... I-"

"Today, Jaime."

"Yes, sir." He said in the most sarcastic tone he could muster. It was normally reserved for Lagoon Boy and his mom on occasions, but he was happy to make an exception.

Trying his best to ignore all the emotions that were running around his head in circles, he walked onto the training ring, and L'gann shot him a grin. Jaime did not like that look on his friend's face. There was something behind that look that did not bode well with him. Whatever, fish boy was planning, it wasn't going to be pleasant that was for sure.

"Go!" Nightwing shouted, and before Jaime could act, Khaji was yelling in his mind strategies that made his head spin. Jaime ignored them, but by the time he got his mind back in the game, he noticed the electricity. L'gann was going to shock him. Dodging was his only option.

_"He's going for an illegal offence, activate plasma cannon."_

'No!' Jaime screamed internally. He could feel his arm shifting against his will. Metal started covering his arm and he felt his hand start its transformation into the cannon. He had to stop it. L'gann wasn't going to kill him, he was just dishing out an unwarranted shock. He didn't deserve to be laid up in the infirmary for months.

_"Don't question me! We must defend ourselves!"_ Khaji screamed, but it was too late. The electricity had reached him.

Sharp pain flowed through Jaime, but he barely noticed it. His fight with the machine on his spine was increasing in intensity. A drum felt like it was beating behind his temples, and with his armored covered arm held close to his torso, he fell to his knees. The pain kept growing the entire way down. He was losing the battle.

_"We need to retaliate."_

"I said no! He wasn't going to hurt us!" He screamed. His eyes stung like tears were going to fall, but he wouldn't let them. Somehow he felt like it would give Khaji satisfaction in seeing his weakness. He knew the other being could feel it on the inside, but he was not about to let it show on the out.

"He didn't mean it. I won't attack him." He said with renewed strength. He couldn't lose. He was not about to end up like Doctor Fate.

_"I said attack!"_

"No. Shut up! You aren't the boss of me! Leave me alone!" His voice grew louder, with his words he knew his control was being restored, and he could feel the proof of that slowly spread throughout his arm. The deadly weapon was gone. The pain in his head, however, remained in full force, and as soon as he felt the armor retreat from his hand, he moved it to clutch at his hair. He felt as if his head was about to split right down the middle. He knew that he had beaten the beetle temporarily, but it was at a cost.

His brain was the equivalent of scrambled eggs. He wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and stay like that for years, but he knew he couldn't do that. Somewhere deep down he knew he was scaring his team half to death. He couldn't torment them anymore than he already had.

"Jaime, who are you talking to?"

Jaime tried not to flinch away. He hadn't noticed Cassie crouch next to him. He was glad it was her. She was the one he closest to on the team. The only one that wasn't scared away by his weirdness. She didn't care that he was a freak. Well, at least she didn't before his episode, but now, he wasn't so sure.

"Jaime, talk to me." He heard her say, and with it, he felt feminine, yet strong, arms wrap around him. They were warm and offered a sense of comfort that he couldn't pass up, and he barely realized that he had leaned into Wonder Girl's embrace. She still cared about him, she really was a wonder.

"He won't leave me alone." He finally answered. He was too tired to lie to her, and he didn't think could if he tried. It wasn't because of the lasso of truth or any nonsense like that either. She was to nice to lie to.

"Who won't?"

"The scarab. It's been three days. He wants more control."

"What scarab?" She asked, and Jaime grabbed her hand. He pulled it slowly to his neck and lowered it until he reached the scarab. The cool metal bulged under his shirt slightly, and as soon as her fingers met it, she gasped.

"How-" She started, but she couldn't seem to get the words out. Jaime hung his head. Now she knew his secret. Everyone knew. He was done for. there was no way that they were going to believe him. The only one who could possibly do that would be Miss Martian, but she was out of the cave, and Khaji appeared to be taking a brief vacation. That meant it was probably time to ship him off to meet his new bat-crap-insane roommate and live the rest of his eating pudding and sitting in a padded room.

"Wonder Girl, take Jaime to the infirmary. I have to report this to the League. We need to run tests on both of them." Nightwing jumped in. Jaime didn't care. He was dead to the world. He didn't want to be tested. He hated needles, but it didn't matter what he had to say about it.

"Come on, Jaime." Cassie said in his ear and she stood, bringing him along with her. She threw one of his arms around her shoulders and she started walking to the infirmary. She didn't give any time to get his bearings, and he knew that she could care less about how embarrassed he was to be dragged around like he weighed nothing. Especially by a girl, but that was beside the point.

Faster than a normal person could have ever managed, they were out of the training room and in the hall. The trip there was a blur for him, but everything was at that point. But he wasn't so far out of it that he didn't notice being shoved up against a wall and held there by his upper arms.

"Cassie?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" She whispered angrily, and he was taken aback with the harsh bite of her tone. She was a happy person by nature. He didn't think he had ever seen her that mad. "Why?' She asked louder, and the grip she had on his arms tightened. If she increased her grip any more, she would leave bruises. Apparently, she wasn't going to take his silence for an answer.

"Scared." He admitted weakly.

"Why?"

"You'd know I'm freak." He said, not meeting her eyes. He didn't want to see what she thought of him now.

"You. Are. Not. A. Freak." She growled, and she shook him gently, making him look at her. "Even if you were, it's not like I can judge. I can fly and throw dumpster trucks." She said with a smile. Her normal light personality was shinning through, and he couldn't stop the twinge of a smile on the corners of his lips.

"Understand?"

He nodded.

"Good. Now let's get you to the infirmary. We've got a bug to smash, because I'm not sharing you with it."

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A/N- There... That's all you get. ( I know this chapter was more Blue Beetle and Wonder Girl rather than Nightwing, but if I'm being forced to add another chapter I'm going to put my pairing in it. WonderBeetle... Love it. )

Feed the idea gnome, leave a review.


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